Life is a Life, Always Taken For Granted
by KayteeLern
Summary: A new villain is after a girl who knows not about her true destiny as an Air Pirate...
1. Prologue

Life is a Life, Always Taken For Granted.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Skies of Arcadia, nor the characters Vyse, Aika, and Fina. I do own the plot, and an original character. Enjoy the story!  
  
~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^*^~*^~*^~*^~~*^  
  
Prologue  
  
A young man stumbled through the corridor, heading for the bridge, where his captain called for him. He had never seen his captain, and was told that he should keep on avoiding him. Now, however, he had no choice. He opened the door.  
  
The bridge was rather open large, its walls hidden by various maps. Crew members were at their stations, checking gauges and meters, looking up at him, then back down again. He walked forward, amazed by the noise level: Silence. The only sound was the wind howl outside the windows.  
  
"Lee."  
  
The man turned around, meeting the gaze of a very important looking man, sitting atop a captain's chair, his hands clasped in front of his face. The captain did indeed look like he despised everyone, with his graying beard and frowning face. Lee gulped.  
  
"Y-yes, sir...?" He stood at attention, something he felt like he should be doing.  
  
The captain twitched his head. "Come here," he growled, and pointed at a small screen beside him.  
  
Lee walked up to his captain and looked at the screen. His expression changed from seriousness to astonishment.  
  
"Is that who I think it is?"  
  
"Precisley." the captain coughed, and put a gnarled hand on his sword. His eyes narrowed.  
  
Lee stepped back. "I-I...what do you want me to do?"  
  
"Stupid ignorant-!" The captain stood up, and Lee found out the captain's height being at least a foot taller than he. He froze as the captain drew his sword and held it at ready.  
  
"Do not question your captain." Not a suggestion. An order.  
  
"I...I won't...ever." He stammered.  
  
The captain sneered, his yellow teeth making him look more menacing. He thrust his sword hand at the screen, where a small girl was sleeping in the grass.  
  
"Bring her to me."  
  
"Aye aye...sir." Lee said, weakly, and backed out of the bridge, trying to foget the sharpness of the sword. 


	2. Chapter One: Something Gone Wrong

Chapter 1: Something Gone Wrong  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Skies of Arcadia, except a copy of the game to play. *wink* I own Lee, the captain dude, and the little girl, but the rest is SEGA and Overworks'.  
  
And, I'm thinking of inserting little bits to thank the reviewers, so here goes:  
  
Desert Lynx: Thanks for your support, and I certainly will explain the little girl. Over the next few chapters.  
  
Thomas Fitsgibbons: Thank you for the review, and just to let you know: That was the prologue, which tends to be a bit short when I'm writing it. Hope this one is long enough for you.  
  
~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^  
  
Aika walked onto the bridge in a huff, after recieving the Silent Treatment from Vyse for several hours. Fina was behind her, looking almost as equally angry, and Vyse was just staring ahead, at the helm.  
  
"Vyse, you know things are going wrong when you're not making this big 'captain' speech. What's the deal?"  
  
Vyse remained silent.  
  
Fina sighed, tapped her fingers on a console. "Was it something we said?"  
  
Slowly, quietly, Vyse shook his head.  
  
Aika, getting impatient with her friend, stepped up to him and tapped his shoulder. "Vyse!"  
  
He glanced at her, blinked, and turned back.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
His jaw tightened.  
  
Fina leaned over the consoles and stared into Vyse's face. She gasped. "Aika, I think something's wrong with him."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The girl woke up from her slumber, sighed dreamily, and traced the outline of a cloud. Her back was sore form sleeping in the grass, yet it didn't mean anything to her. She gazed, puzzled, at a sight of a dark cloud, and realized what it is.  
  
"Oh!" She leapt up and ran for the small cottage her father had built. Her dog, Podge, yelped when she nearly stepped on his tail.  
  
"Sorry, Podge! Daddy! It's coming!" She tripped on her pant leg. A young man peekd out of an oaken door, his glasses askew.  
  
"You sure it's the one?"  
  
She nodded grimly.  
  
The man turned pale, and stumbled out of the room, closing the door carefully behind him. He pulled off his lab coat and grabbed a long weapon, sheathed in cloth, and grabbed her hand. "Show me."  
  
She pulled him to the front yard, where the dark cloud made the grass look black. Lightning rumbled, and a small shape fell down, near the end of the field. she ran to bring it back, but her father flung out a hand.  
  
"Get into the house, Erie."  
  
Erie stole a glance at the shape. "But...it could be Mommy!"  
  
"GET IN!"  
  
She jumped back, suddenly afraid by her father's determination. She flew back into the house and buried her face in Podge's fur. He whimpered and licked her face.  
  
Outside, Erie's father unwrapped the cloth and revealed a bow. He cast Riselem, and focused his energy to shape the spell into an arrow, aimed, and released the arrow at the shadow in the grass. He ran full out to the shadow, deep into the darkness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lee argued with the guard, "He TOLD me to leave-"  
  
"Whatever you say has no proof of anything our captain says." The guard's eyes narrowed.  
  
"But I'm TELLING you-"  
  
"Not in hell."  
  
"I'll make this hell if you don't open the-"  
  
"You'll cost me my job, boy!"  
  
"So what? You're not even doing it!"  
  
The guard pulled out his sword and pointed it at Lee. "Don't make me use it."  
  
Lee glared at him and stalked off.  
  
"I'll never get to the girl through there..." he muttered. He walked into his quarters, and glanced at a picture on his desk: His brother and his family, all standing in front of a cabin. The woman was smiling, leaning her head on Lee's brother's shoulder, and their tiny daughter sitting on a large dog.  
  
Frustration made tears start to fall. He swiped at them. "Goddammit, why does it have to be her?!" 


	3. Chapter Two: A Scramble of Things

Author's Note: I updated. For the first time in long while. For one, I wrote bits at camp and sent it home. Now, I'm home for one more day before my other camp starts, so I'm working before you all yell at me.  
  
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN THE IDEA OF SOAL, I JUST OWN A COPY OF IT! Get off my case, will ya?  
  
Calmer Disclaimer: I currently do not own SOAL(Note the keyword: CURRENTLY), but if you want it for yourself, I'm sure SEGA and Overworks will take that in mind before they sue.  
  
Aozora-Miyako Shuki = Thanks for the review! Over the next few chapters(I hope), Vyse's problem will be revealed.  
  
Desert Lynx = I doubt that this chapter is longer thn the last, but I have no access to Internet for 3 weeks, and I'm trying to updte this story.  
  
Thomas Fitzgibbons = I enjoy your enthusiasm, and yes, I know I was rushing a bit, and I've tried to slow this chapter down. However, I'm not an outline kind of person, and I like improvisation, so all my ideas are "spur of the moment", which sometimes doesn't work.  
  
Saridaru-chan = Me, I'm just a newbie at this, and someone who desperately wants to be an author when she grows up. Sadly, I can't outline, and what good author doesn't outline? And I like long reviews, long chapters.... so I'd better get going.  
  
Phantom Monkey = I am thankful that some people actually like my fics(ah HA! Hope!). Unforunately, these are fanficiton, not actual stories, so there goes my author dream. sigh  
  
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
Chapter Two: A Scrambled Mess of Things  
  
The woman shook water out of her eyes and pulled an arrow out of her thigh. In the distance, she saw a shape running toward her. She hoped it wasn't Master.  
  
It had all happened in a flash to her: Having failed to be on time to serve Master, being forced into a tank full of water, voices whispering "Give it up. She is of no use to us anymore.", falling...  
  
She wanted to forget her torturer. He wasn't human. 'No kidding,' she thought, grimacing. His power had led him to assume the shape of a human. Too powerful. She closed her eyes and tried to remember her name just as the shadow knelt down beside her, clearly a human. His voice rang out, familiar.  
  
"Tiria?" His rough hands pulled her into a sitting position, her head resting on his broad shoulder. A hint of recognition flashed through the woman's head. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, but they still came down her cheeks. She couldn't feel her ribs, for when Master had beaten her, his magic had crippled her as well.  
  
She felt the strong hands gently brush away the tears and heard him whisper silver magic. Instantly, the blood all over her face and back melted into her skin and her ribs chinked into place.  
  
"Tiria, open your eyes." Who was this man talking to her, helping her? Did he...know her? Her mind raced with millions of questions. Was she Tiria? Nonetheless, she opened her eyes to see a pair of blue eyes gazing worriedly down at her. The same pair of eyes that haunted her dreams at night, the same pair that kept her sane. Only it wasn't a man's eyes.  
  
Her hand trembled as she raised it to her mouth to cough. The man reached over and took her hand. "You're okay now, Tiria, don't worry. Erie is back at the house."  
  
"Erie...." She smiled, failing slightly and coughing up blood.  
  
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
Lee came back to the guard with his machine gun. The guard eyed it while he nervously spoke.  
  
"Look, kid, orders are orders, right? I'm supposed to let no one past these doors."  
  
"Orders are orders, eh?" Lee raised the gun and jabbed the mouth at the guards jugular. The guard swallowed, then allowed him passage.  
  
Inside the door, Lee sighed and shouldered the gun. He walked over to a decoy lifeboat, the one that Captain sent his loyal officers in to yell for help, then ambush the innocent filthy Blue Rogues that would definitely attempt to "rescue" the soldier. Inside the small lifeboat ws a large brown sack, thick rope, and a Noxus Box.  
  
Grudgingly, Lee swung himself into the boat and left the attack ship. Gainf back, he saw that the ship was shaped like the Captain's former form. Itt was very serene looking, to lure in good-intended air Pirates in to get a good shot at them. He shivered for a moment at the raw destruction in front of him, then set his jaw and set forth on his journey.  
  
The wind ruffled his jacket, and the small picture threatened to escape. The small innocent blue eyes on the girl's face showed laughter.  
  
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
Vyse's dull eyes clearly alarmed Fina. She was used to the determined sparkle in his eyes everytime he set his mind on something, everytime he was sailing. Sure, he was sailing.  
  
And all three of them had set their mind on finding someone who had been missing for two years.  
  
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
  
AN: I am EXTREMELY sorry for not making this chapter longer; if I leave it for the next three weeks, then I will forget about it, so I just had to finish it and upload it. Review, please! 


End file.
